After graduating with a bachelor’s in computer science in 2023, a software company offered me an exciting job that paid $60,000 a year.
The catch? I had to move away from home.
I had grown up on Long Island all my life, but the company didn’t have an office within commuting distance of my parents’ house. Moving felt daunting. Moving across the country? Even more so.
But I felt like I had no choice because of the difficult job market and the rising costs in New York, so I packed up and moved to Texas.
The East Coast was nearly impossible to afford
I did the math. The average rent for an apartment in most East Coast states is $2,000 to $3,000 a month.
Over the course of a year, on average, that would be $30,000. This was half of my annual income — before accounting for any other expenses.
New York State income taxes are also high, plus there’s federal tax on top. Already, with back-of-the-napkin math, I found that I would be left with less than half of my annual salary before accounting for food, insurance premiums, utilities, and rainy-day savings.
After all that, there would be next to nothing left for student loan repayments, and I wouldn’t be able to save any money to eventually buy a house.
Texas was the much cheaper option
Researching my options, I learned the company had an office in San Antonio. As I researched this unfamiliar city, what I found astounded me.
Even in a large city like San Antonio, rent averages $1,000 to $1,500 a month. Texas also has no state income tax.
I would have significantly more of my annual income to spend and save if I lived in Texas with the same job.
I decided to move across the country to Texas
Though the numbers were promising, I had never been south of Virginia until my move. I had no clue what San Antonio was like and had no family or friends there for support.
I found my apartment in this new, unfamiliar city remotely. I scanned Google Maps. I made a list of apartments with ideal locations and read their tenants’ reviews. I focused on ones with two to four stars to avoid being misled.
As part of my research, I looked at crime statistics. I was happy to see it was very low. I then narrowed my commute down to five minutes.
I’m financially comfortable in Texas
After the move, I paid about $1,250 a month for a 700-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment with an in-home washer & dryer, community gym, and pool.
There is a rule in personal finance called the 50/30/20 rule. Ideally, you should spend 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and save 20% of what you earn. Living in Texas, I easily spent less than 50% on needs and saved more than 40% of what I earned.
All of that would not have been possible on the East Coast at my entry-level, new-grad salary.
Lastly, home prices in Texas are much lower, so my goal of homeownership finally felt achievable.
I made my cross-country move work for me
As a new graduate, I faced a market with low salary expectations, frequent mass layoffs, and high job volatility.
I made it work by moving away from a state with a high cost of living to one offering a 50% discount on life.
New graduates and early professionals may find success doing the same.
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